Study Confirms “Green” Hypocrisy

In a finding that surprises, probably, no one, a new survey shows that the more a person claims to be concerned about global warming, the less likely he is to behave in environmentally friendly ways:

Participants in a year-long study who doubted the scientific consensus on the issue “opposed policy solutions,” but at the same time, they “were most likely to report engaging in individual-level, pro-environmental behaviors,” writes a research team led by University of Michigan psychologist Michael Hall.

Conversely, those who expressed the greatest belief in, and concern about, the warming environment “were most supportive of government climate policies, but least likely to report individual-level actions.”

Liberals are hypocrites? Who knew! From the study itself:

Believing in climate change, but not behaving sustainably: Evidence from a one-year longitudinal study

Michael P.Hall, Neil A.Lewis Jr., Phoebe C. Ellsworth

We conducted a one-year longitudinal study in which 600 American adults regularly reported their climate change beliefs, pro-environmental behavior, and other climate-change related measures. Using latent class analyses, we uncovered three clusters of Americans with distinct climate belief trajectories: (1) the “Skeptical,” who believed least in climate change; (2) the “Cautiously Worried,” who had moderate beliefs in climate change; and (3) the “Highly Concerned,” who had the strongest beliefs and concern about climate change. Cluster membership predicted different outcomes: the “Highly Concerned” were most supportive of government climate policies, but least likely to report individual-level actions, whereas the “Skeptical” opposed policy solutions but were most likely to report engaging in individual-level pro-environmental behaviors.

It is an old, familiar story. Liberalism is all about forcing other people to behave in socially desirable ways. Having achieved that goal, the liberal typically puts down his shovel and indulges his own anti-social whims. Whether it’s Harvey Weinstein or a greenie wienie, the phenomenon is the same. It isn’t just that most liberals are hypocrites, it is that hypocrisy is the essence of liberalism. Conservatives, meanwhile, take action in their own lives rather than using government to force others to obey.

We see this pattern over and over. Liberals try to force people to support good causes–but only those financed by government–while conservatives contribute far more to charities that actually help people.

If you have long believed that conservatives are morally superior to liberals, you are correct.